You can profit whether the market goes up or down, or, rather, goes up and down as all free market prices do, by swing trading. That is, by investing long only when a stock, index, or commodity (including currencies) is trending up, and even more profitably, shorting it as well when it is trending down.
Skillful swing trading will produce a much greater magnitude of return than investing in a stock, index, or commodity (referred an an Instrument), and shield you from market movements against your investment position.
In the last ten years the Dow is down 25%; the Nasdaq-100 is down 41%; the S&P 500 is down the same. You would have made more shorting them – and even that would have produced unacceptable returns for 10 years.
All skillful swing trading systems must have (1) a mathematically precise entry point; (2) a mathematically precise exit or profit point; (3) a mathematically precise stop loss point; and (4) prove itself through its successful application through 10 years of historical price data.
Any swing trade system with vague entry, exit, or stop loss points is not a system at all.
Any swing trade system without stop loss point does not manage risk and will eventually and radically reduce your investment capital.
However, a swing trade system with mathematically precise entry, exit, and stop loss points, which profits in trading an Instrument in up, down, and sideways years, is golden.
Testing a swing trade system over 10 years does three things:
It requires the swing trade system to have scientifically accurate rules subject to objective testing.
It provides return results with which to compare to the underlying Instrument that is being traded, or to other swing trade systems.
And 10 years of daily back testing historical pricing data allows enough time for any Instrument to show all of its movement characteristics in up, down, and sideways markets so that if the system proves itself successful on 1, 3, 5 and 10 year time lines, you have a scientific basis for expecting trade profitability going forward.
So use, or research your own successful and proven swing trading system. Make sure the swing trading system establishes mathematically clear entry, exit and stop loss points. Back test the swing trading system with 10 years of pricing data to assure its success through all market conditions, and then mushroom profits in up, down, and sideways markets in ways straight long or short investing may not.